| Alt Name: | The Tidal Zone: A SpongeBob Universe Special |
| Genre: | Comedy Surreal humor |
| Based On: | SpongeBob SquarePants by Stephen Hillenburg |
| Starring: | Tom Kenny Bill Fagerbakke Rodger Bumpass Clancy Brown Carolyn Lawrence Mr. Lawrence Jill Talley Lori Alan Dana Snyder |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Episodes: | 5 |
| Company: | United Plankton Pictures, Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
| Network: | Nickelodeon |
SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone, referred to more simply as SpongeBob and the Tidal Zone, (also known as The Tidal Zone: A SpongeBob Universe Special), is an American animated anthology television special based on Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants and its corresponding franchise, branded as the SpongeBob Universe. A parody and homage to horror anthology television programs, mainly The Twilight Zone, the special comprises five episodes, being the 12th episode of the thirteenth season of SpongeBob SquarePants, the first half of the fourteenth episode of the first season of The Patrick Star Show, and the second half of the twenty-first episode of the first season of . The special was announced on July 22, 2022, at Nickelodeon's San Diego Comic-Con panel.[1] and premiered on January 13, 2023.
The Tidal Zone is a showcase of stories set in the SpongeBob universe with a continuous theme of absurdist and abnormality, hosted by the French Narrator who provides the opening and closing narration of each segment. Throughout the special, GrandPat Star is using a time machine in the form of a closet to find his way back home and occasionally appears in each segment.
See also: List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters.
The special was announced at Nickelodeon's San Diego Comic Con panel on July 22, 2022. It was originally scheduled to air on November 25, 2022,[2] but it was delayed due to unknown reasons. Instead, that slot was taken by the television premiere of . On December 13, 2022, the special was rescheduled to January 13, 2023.[3] [4] It was later included on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD as well as the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years - Season 1, Volume 2 and The Patrick Star Show: Season 1, Volume 2 DVD sets.
David King of BubbleBlabber.com called the special decent, saying that "It's hard to believe a long-running franchise like this hasn't had anything like this that isn't a Halloween special. I give it points for creativity at least for 'out-weirding' itself, and given the popularity that SpongeBob has obtained for decades, I have the feeling we might get more of these in the future."[5]